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Severe thunderstorms traversed Minnesota yesterday afternoon, leaving behind substantial hail damage and power outages. Storms initiated in an extremely unstable environment along the MN-SD border mid-afternoon, and progressed generally northeast across the state. The early, vigorous convection in southwest Minnesota suggested a total linear storm mode, but a few discrete supercells managed to form ahead of the initial line, where the surface environment was more conducive for discrete storm activity; these cells were responsible for the baseball to softball-sized hail shown at right, courtesy of TVN live streamerhttp://thewxpage.com/] Michael Stanga [/url](click here for a recap and more images from live streamer Bill Doms!). The discrete storms eventually merged, and, in combination with the initial line trailing these to the southwest, resulted in two rounds of severe storms that were ultimately responsible for widespread wind and hail damage and flash flooding across most of central Minnesota and the greater Minneapolis metro area into Wisconsin.